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St. Louis Catholic School (elementary--Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8)

11 Morgan Avenue, Etobicoke, Ontario M8Y 2Z7

School_News
Important Dates for the School Year
Monthly Newsletters
CSAC Meetings

Student Transportation Services (Bus Routes)

Homework Website

Total enrolment	210
Principal	Lilian Ugrin Tel: 416-393-5331 Fax: 416-397-6138
Superintendent	Josephine Nespolo Tel: 416-222-8282 ext. 2732
Parish	St. Leo Catholic Church 277 Royal York Road Etobicoke, Ontario M8V 2V8 416-251-1109
Local Trustee	Ann Andrachuk Tel: 416-512-3402; Fax: 416-512-3402 e-mail: ann.andrachuk@tcdsb.org
CSAC Chair	Valerie Devine Voice Mailbox #88331 csac.stlouis@tcdsb.org
Transportation	For information, please call 416-229-5313

History & Tradition

St. Louis Catholic School began as a simple seven-room schoolhouse which first opened its doors on September 2, 1947. At that time it was part of the Combined Roman Catholic Separate Schools Board of the Township of Etobicoke. In the first year, there were 71 students from grades 1 to 8, with two teachers: Sister Mary Assumpta was the first principal of St. Louis. It was she who established the school motto of “faith, friends and fulfillment”.

In the years that followed, the school continued to grow. In 1962, the school gained an addition of five classrooms and a library. In 1967, St. Louis joined the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now Toronto Catholic District School Board) family. In 1968, a gymnasium and three more classrooms were added. In 1990, the original schoolhouse was torn down. The addition and renovations which make up the present building were completed in 1992.

St. Louis continues to grow in numbers, having more than doubled its population in recent years. The traditions of “faith, friends and fulfillment” continue to be an important part of the life of the school after more than 50 years in existence.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

As a community of Catholic educators, we at St. Louis School are committed to the educational, emotional, and spiritual development of each child in the environment of a Catholic school through:

Religious instruction, daily prayer, liturgies and paraliturgical celebrations
Celebrations of the liturgical seasons of the year and important feast days
Visible signs of our faith displayed throughout the school (crucifixes, religious statues and pictures, prayer centres in each classroom)
Cooperation with the parish team in the preparation of the students for the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist (usually in grade 2) and confirmation (grade 8).
A code of behaviour which emphasizes respect for ourselves and for one another
A safe arrival program which helps the school and the family to monitor the absences of their children
Strong extra-curricular and co-curricular programs: primary and junior house leagues, student newspapers and hall displays of student work, clubs and activities open to all students (chess, needlework, crafts etc.), a junior choir, Christmas concert, and spoken arts festival, school teams for W5H, volleyball, soccer, baseball, basketball, cross-country and track & field.
A school action plan developed through divisional and staff meetings throughout the year to meet the needs of the students in this community.
Daily and long range planning of the classroom curriculum by teachers
A school -based support team and inter-disciplinary team which include the special education and ESL teachers, the guidance teacher, school nurse, assessment and programming teacher, psychometrician, principal and social worker, which meet several times during the year to discuss and recommend programming strategies for students with special needs.
Formal special education and ESL instruction for identified students
Withdrawal resource instruction to provide interim or short-term assistance to students
Guidance and social work assistance available to students and parents
A well-equipped resource library
A large number of computers, both in the classroom and in the library
Word processing, desk top publishing and research skills taught to children at all grade levels by the teacher-librarian
Seven multi-media computers to provide access to talking books, multi-media reference materials and the Internet.

School News

School Calendar 2010-2011

School Begins	September 7, 2010
Thanksgiving Day	October 11, 2010
Christmas break	December 20-31, 2010
Family Day	February 21, 2011
Mid-Winter Break	March 14-18, 2011
Good Friday	April 22, 2011
Easter Monday	April 25, 2011
Victoria Day	May 23, 2011
Last day of classes for elementary students	June 29, 2011

PA Days 2010-2011

September 2, 2010 (Faith Development/Provincial Education Priorities)
November 19, 2010 (Parent Teacher Conference)
January 21, 2011 (Assessment and Evaluation)
February 18, 2011 (Parent Teacher Conference)
May 20, 2011 (Assessment and Evaluation)
June 30, 2011 (Provincial Education Priorities)

Supporting Bendal Nursery in Africa
O, Happy Day!
Thank you to parents--details

St. Louis Fundraiser Timeline

We have planned for 6 Fundraising Projects this year, approved by the CSAC in Spring

1. Fall Fundraiser�Acorn Cards�CSAC Guided
2. Advent: GLOBAL Community Service Outreach Project�Staff Guided
3. Christmas�A Silent Auction at the Christmas Pageant�CSAC Guided
4. Lent: LOCAL Community Service Outreach Project�Staff Guided
5. Spring Fundraiser: Valentine�s Day Dance-a-thon�CSAC Guided
6. Spring Fundraiser: Purple Day at St. Louis to support Meaghan�s Walk�Staff Guided

St. Louis Athletic Calendar, 2009 - 2010

Monthly Newsletters

Minutes from CSAC Meetings

CSAC Bylaws

October 27, 2006

Other School News and Information

We Thank Our CSAC for the Following Gifts to St. Louis
For the 2009-2010 School Year

Financial support of the following Enrichment Activities for the Children:

Class Enrichment Trip buses, and Athletic Buses-- $2500.00

Destination Imagination to Knoxville, Tennessee-- $500.00

Montreal Trip Contribution-- $600.00

Welcome to Kindergarten Refreshments and Curriculum Gift Bags-- $300.00

Pizza Lunch for the fundraiser winning class-- $80.00

Teacher�s Allowance of $100. per teacher-- $1200.00

First Communion Expenses-- $100.00

Confirmation Expenses-- $100.00

SK and Grade 8 Graduation-- $200.00

Refreshments for Play Day-- $110.00

Student Enrichment Dance Instruction-- $500.00

Student Enrichment Scientist in the School-- $145.00

Bishop Allen Parent Outreach Evening, refreshments-- $100.00

Confirmation Retreat Refreshments-- $80.00

We couldn�t do it so well without your generous support and partnership.

Thank you to our CSAC parents, from the entire school community!

Generous spirit grows school garden
St. Louis caretaker spends lunches, weekends blossoming beauty

Generous spirit grows school garden. For the past eight years, Albert Leo, caretaker at St. Louis Catholic School, has dedicated much of his time to creating and maintaining the gardens in the school's front yard. Staff photo/ANICE WONG St. Louis Catholic School caretaker Albert Leo looked up at the early June sun and flashed a big grin.
It would be a great day for the Grade 3/4 split class to help him plant parents Fernando and Catherine Campese's annual $400 gift, a bounty of bright-bloomed impatiens, petunias, marigolds and begonias in his garden.

His garden.

"It was supposed to be one piece of garden going down from the school entrance to the sidewalk. I don't know what happened," Leo said, laughing, of the burgeoning gardens he began eight years ago that now fill the elementary school's entire frontage. "It has become a miracle. I became addicted to it. It's relaxing. It's a therapy. You talk to the plants and they talk to you. You don't hear it, but you see it in the way they grow."

There's a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a centerpiece of the garden featuring an angel, a child nestling a dog, rabbits, squirrels and lanterns he calls his "bridal path." A second garden wraps around a large tree. The third, Leo and some students' favourite, teems with big rocks of every shape, hostas and geraniums and surrounds the St. Louis Catholic School sign.

What grass remains is reminiscent of The Emerald Isle. Leo ensures it stays that way. He recuts the lawn each time school board contractors cut it.

"I'm picky about the grass. I like it smooth, clean edges and everything."

Leo sources most of the gardens' rocks, and many of its sculptures, from Mimico neighbours' boulevards on garbage day.

Bright blossom-filled flower boxes line the Morgan Avenue-facing school office, staff room and some ground-floor classrooms.

"How do you like my deck?" Leo asked, after he toured a reporter through his works of art. The patio is made entirely from recycled materials, including sand from four local schools. It took a month for him to cement the interlocking brick patio, and to plant flowering shrubs all along its perimeter.

"I love it out here. I could spend the whole day out here," he said, smiling, as he often does. "I bought a lot of the plants, and other things. It looks good. It makes me feel good. Residents love it."

Leo helped neighbours Bernice and her husband, Walter Obloj with their lawn and gardens, as he does for many area residents.

"He's a very nice fella," said Bernice Obloj, who lives directly across the street from St. Louis Catholic School. "He helps us. He's done a good job. We don't have to go to a park. We sit on our veranda and look at the beautiful (school) garden."

Grade 3 student Isabella Boyle, 9, and her Grade 4 classmate, Jasmine Carlos, also nine-years-old, helped plant that day.

"Sometimes, we go outside and read. It's really nice," Boyle said.

Carlos agreed. "Mr. Leo did a nice job. I'm excited to plant. Sometimes, I plant with my Dad at home."

Inside the school, Leo's tidy office he calls his "bachelor apartment" complete with kitchen, office and lounge area also bursts with colour and personality.

This year, graduating Grade 8 students will paint a Toronto FC logo on Leo's mural wall, painted official Maple Leaf blue. "I don't care if (the Leafs) never win the Stanley Cup. I'll never give up on them."

The opposite wall is painted red. It is splashed with countless photos of family, friends and his lovingly restored red 1994 Honda Civic with spitshine rims.

A father of four who lives in North York, Leo, 48, has worked for the Toronto Catholic District School Board for 21 years. He said he hopes to retire from St. Louis.

"This is the best school I've ever worked in," he said. "The kids are awesome. The principal is awesome. The teachers are great. The parents and neighbours are very nice."

Principal Rosanne Morris returned the praise.

"Mr. Leo goes far beyond his job description," Morris said, noting he painted some of the school walls in preparation for the school's 60th anniversary celebration when the board's timeline wouldn't work.

"He's often here on weekends working in the garden, sometimes with his children. And nobody has ever asked Mr. Leo to do this. It's a complete gift from Mr. Leo to the neighbourhood."

Never once, Morris said, has Leo ever submitted a bill for any aspect of his labour of love.

"Just call it Heaven," he said, smiling.

Pen pals 'run' into each other in chance encounter

Pen pals 'run' into each other in chance encounter. Patricia Razowski, left, and Emilka Lasosta are pen pals from different schools who literally 'ran' into each other for the first time at a school cross-country competition. Courtesy photo

TAMARA SHEPHARD

May 6, 2010

Patricia Razowski and Emilka Lasosta first met through the written word.

Pen pals since September, the Grade 3 girls at two Etobicoke Catholic schools shared much in common - their Polish descent, blond hair and blue eyes.

Not to mention a talent for running.

Running unexpectedly brought the pair face-to-face for the first time Wednesday on the track at Centennial Park.

Patricia was the only girl at St. Louis Catholic School in Mimico, Emilka the only student from St. Mark Catholic School in Humber Bay, to compete in this week's Toronto Catholic school board's elementary cross-country championships.

"When the girls met, they were quite delighted to see each other for the first time," said Pat Ryan, the librarian technician who works at both schools and set up the pen pal program four years ago. "I have a feeling it's a friendship that will last quite some time."

Any butterflies felt over their first meeting didn't interfere with their race. The girls finished mid-pack out of 88 runners.

"Both girls are really strong runners," Ryan said. "They're petite girls, slim, but they've got stamina."

Ryan said the pen pal program develops students' letter-writing skills on a social level. The 35 students learn about one another, share their likes and dislikes, books they've read.

The rest of the pen pals meet for the first time in June at the annual pen pal picnic.

St. Louis ME TO WE Student Leaders Raise $1.045.25 for Haiti with a Project Called HAITI AID

St. Louis Catholic School

11 Morgan Avenue

Toronto, Ontario

M8Y2Z7

416-393-5331

February 18, 2010

Dear Parents,

I am delighted to inform you that the Grade 7 and 8 ME TO WE student leaders at St. Louis, with the guidance of Ms Pacheco and the whole staff, have completed a very successful pre-Lenten campaign called HAITI AID�our global outreach project.

Given the significant generosity of our parent community, our school has raised a grand total of $1,045.25 for FREE THE CHILDREN foundation�funds which will be used to purchase much needed medical supplies for the people of HAITI.

Let me explain how this translates in real dollar terms:

each dollar raised is matched dollar for dollar by the government of Canada

this means that the money raised by our families is double meaning that an additional $1,045.25 is donated to Free the Children by the government of Canada in St. Louis' name.
FREE THE CHILDREN has its own corporate sponsorship that multiplies the dollars raised by ten: this means that the money we raised becomes $10,452.50 of medical supplies for the people of Haiti!

We are very proud of our children for their efforts to help those in need. In fact it was wonderful to see so many children who emptied their piggy banks at home, bringing in bags of coins for the families in Haiti who need so much help! As your principal I say a heartfelt thank you, to you as parents, for your ongoing support of our school, and support of those in our community who need assistance. You are always so generous, and the spirit of your children reflects the strength of your commitment and compassion for the larger global community. Thank you all, very much!

Sincerely,

Rosanne Morris
Principal

Winners celebrated in Etobicoke for the great work they do in their communities!

Urban Heroes.

Toronto Community News is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Urban Hero Awards - a group of individuals and organizations that work hard and selflessly to make our community better places to live, work and play.

The winners are, in the category of Arts and Culture: The Waterfront Trail Artists (group winner); in the category of Community: Youth without Shelter (group winner) and Tracey Cairns, founder of WomenAide (individual winner); in the category of Education: Rosanne Morris, principal of St. Louis Catholic School (individual winner); in the category of Environment: Citizens Concerned about the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront (group winner) and Edna Rollauer and Marlyn Rollauer (individual winners); in the category of Health and Science: The Student Volunteer Youth Committee at Etobicoke General Hospital (group winner) and Marjorie Pitchford, founding member of the Dorothy Ley Hospice (individual winner); and in the category of Sports: The Brampton-Etobicoke and District Cricket League (group winner) and Alan Waffle, president of the Royal York Baseball League (individual winner).

The Urban Hero Awards is an annual awards program developed by Toronto Community News that recognizes those community members and grassroots level 'heroes' whose personal effort, sacrifice or contribution have made a significant impact to a cause, a person or a group in our local community.

In 2009, the Urban Hero Awards were open to nominations from the Etobicoke area and promoted through The Etobicoke Guardian.

The Urban Hero Award winners were announced at a reception held Tuesday, Oct. 27 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Etobicoke.

For more information on the awards program, the Urban Hero Award winners and how you can nominate someone for next year, visit www.urbanheroes.ca

http://www.urbanheroes.ca/winners/2009/education.php

Lockdown Procedures

School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2009-2010

Safe School Plan -- 2009-2010

EQAO Assessment Results

EQAO:

School Year
2008-2009	Grade 3 & Grade 6 Results
2007-2008	Grade 3 & Grade 6 Results
2006-2007	Grade 3 & Grade 6 Results
2005-2006	Grade 3 & Grade 6 Results
2004-2005	Grade 3 & Grade 6 Results